JPS6047861B2 - Ball movement state detection device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an optical ball movement state detection device suitable for determining the course of a ball during baseball pitching practice.

Method 7 for optically determining the course of a baseball ball is already known as an application of optical sensors.

By the way, conventional detection devices are based on the fact that when a ball passes between a large number of light sources arranged in a straight line and a light receiving element arranged opposite thereto, the light receiving element becomes in a non-light receiving state. , configured to detect ball position. Therefore, a light emitting element and a light receiving element must be arranged over the entire range through which the ball passes to create a mesh of light beams, resulting in a large device. Furthermore, there is a problem in that the light from the light emitting element is incident not only on the opposing light receiving element but also on the adjacent light receiving element, making it difficult to improve the determination accuracy. In principle, it is conceivable to use a two-dimensional image sensor to detect the ball passing through the strike zone in order to solve this type of drawback.

However, it is practically impossible for the pitcher or catcher to view the strike zone using the two-dimensional image sensor. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a ball movement state detection device that can easily perform high-precision polarization using a small one-dimensional image sensor.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a photosensitive portion that is fixedly arranged on an extension plane of a predetermined plane that can be expressed by XY coordinates, and whose one-dimensional arrangement direction coincides with a first straight line on the extension plane. a first one-dimensional image sensor arranged such that the length of the photosensitive portion in the one-dimensional array direction is smaller than the length of the predetermined plane in the X-axis direction and the length in the y-axis direction; and a one-dimensional array of the photosensitive parts that is fixedly arranged on the extension plane and arranged such that the one-dimensional arrangement direction of the photosensitive parts coincides with a second straight line having a predetermined angle with respect to the first straight line. The length in the arrangement direction is the length in the x-axis direction of the predetermined plane and . a second one-dimensional image sensor formed to have a length smaller than the length in the y-axis direction; and obtaining images of the ball at all positions on the first one-dimensional image sensor at least on the predetermined plane. a first lens formed and arranged so as to be able to image the ball at least at all positions on the predetermined plane on the second one-dimensional image sensor; a clock signal generator for driving the first one-dimensional image sensor and the second one-dimensional image sensor in synchronization; a first one that forms a signal indicating the position of an imaging point on the first one-dimensional image sensor based on the output of the one-dimensional image sensor;
an imaging point position signal forming circuit, and a second imaging point position that forms a signal indicating the imaging point position on the second one-dimensional image sensor based on the output of the second one-dimensional image sensor. Based on the output signals of the signal forming circuit and the first and second image forming point position signal forming circuits, the ? Of a ball passing across a plane? An arithmetic circuit that calculates the coordinate position and the ball's? This relates to a ball movement state detection device that includes at least a course determination circuit that determines whether the coordinate position is within the predetermined plane, and an output device that displays or records the output of the course determination circuit. be.

According to the present invention, it is possible to detect the passing state of the ball using a one-dimensional image sensor.
It becomes possible to simplify the device and reduce costs.

Furthermore, since an image of the ball passing through at least a predetermined plane is formed on the one-dimensional image sensor by the first and second lenses, the image sensor can be made extremely small. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The sensor in the device for determining a baseball strike ball according to the embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
They are arranged as shown in the figure.

As is clear from FIG. 1, which shows the direction of the home plate from the pitcher or catcher's side, and FIG. 2, which shows the bottom from the top of the base plate, the first one-dimensional image sensor 1
is arranged on the base board 3, and the second one-dimensional image sensor 2 is arranged beside the base board 3, that is, at the position where the batter stands. A predetermined plane 4 surrounded by a chain line is a strike zone, and is an area across which the ball passes. In this embodiment, the center point P of this predetermined plane 4. is X
Since it is the origin of the y coordinate, each part in the predetermined plane 4? It is possible to indicate it by coordinate points. Origin P. Distance Y in the y-axis direction from A first one-dimensional image sensor 1 is fixedly arranged at a position separated by a distance X from the origin PO in the X-axis direction. A second one-dimensional image sensor 2 is fixedly disposed at a position separated by the same distance. The first straight line 5 and the second straight line 6 drawn along the respective one-dimensional image sensors 1 and 2 are straight lines included in the extension plane of the predetermined plane 4, and among these, the first straight line 5 is along the X axis. and the second straight line 6 is drawn parallel to the y-axis. The one-dimensional arrangement direction of the photosensitive parts of the first and second one-dimensional image sensors 1 and 2, that is, the readout scanning direction, coincides with the first and second straight lines 5 and 6.

In this embodiment, since the first straight line 5 and the second straight line 6 are perpendicular to each other, the one-dimensional arrangement direction of the photosensitive parts of the first one-dimensional image sensor 1 is the same as that of the second one-dimensional image sensor 2. It is shifted by 90 degrees with respect to the one-dimensional array direction. Furthermore, the first
As is clear from the drawing, the length of the photosensitive parts of the second one-dimensional image sensors 1 and 2 in the one-dimensional array direction is shorter than the length of the predetermined plane 4 in the x-axis direction and the length in the y-axis direction. . However, since the first and second lenses 7 and 8 are arranged between the predetermined plane 4 and the first and second one-dimensional image sensors 1 and 2, and these have a convex lens configuration, the ball position is at least It is possible to obtain an image of the ball at all locations in the given plane 4 on the respective sensor 1, 2, even if it varies within the given plane 4. The first lens 7 having a focal length Fy is arranged at a distance By from the first one-dimensional image sensor 1 with its optical axis aligned with the y-axis. Further, the second lens 8 having a focal length Fx is arranged at a distance Bx from the second one-dimensional image sensor 2 with its optical axis aligned with the X-axis. The first and second illumination light sources L and L2, indicated by chain lines in FIG. 1, are arranged to face the pair of sensors 1 and 2, and provide bias light to the sensors 1 and 2 as necessary. .

This illumination light source L depends on the external light conditions and the reflection conditions of the ball.
When using i,L2, the passage of the ball creates a dark image, and the output level is reduced in response to this, making it possible to clearly detect the ball position. In this embodiment, the first and second one-dimensional image sensors 1 and 2 used in the apparatus of FIG. 1 are CCD (charge transfer device) image sensors, and the principle is as shown in FIG. As shown, photosensitive sections A1-An are arranged linearly, that is, one-dimensionally, and these photosensitive sections A1-An are coupled via transfer gates G to a CCD serving as a readout register.

That is, the photosensitive area A1~ constituted by MOS capacitors
The charges accumulated by irradiating An with light are
The data is transferred to the CCD via the transfer gate G, and transferred by the CCD as a read register. FIG. 3 shows the entire detection device, in which the first and second one-dimensional image sensors 1 and 2 are scanned or read out by a clock pulse of, for example, 40 kHz from a common clock signal generator 10. Driven by shift.

Now, for example, at a certain point, the first one-dimensional image sensor 1
If an image of the ball is obtained on the light-receiving section A3 shown in FIG.
For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, an output is obtained at time T3.
One scanning period T. Since there is a predetermined correspondence between the output generation time point and the photosensitive area at -Tn, the imaging position (exposed or non-exposed position) can be easily determined based on the output generation time point. The second one-dimensional image sensor 2 also provides an output as shown in FIG. 5B, for example, so that the imaging position can be easily determined. The outputs read from the pair of sensors 1 and 2 are waveform-shaped by first and second waveform shaping circuits 11 and 12.
The image forming point position signal is sent to the image forming point position signal forming circuits 13 and 14.

The first imaging point position signal forming circuit 13 sets the center point of the first one-dimensional image sensor 1 as a zero point, and from this, the first imaging point position signal forming circuit 13
The right side of the straight line 5 is the x axis, and the left side is the -X axis,
This is to obtain imaging point position data X at a predetermined time. Further, the second image forming point position signal forming circuit 14 detects the center point Y of the second one-dimensional image sensor 2. The image forming point position data Y at a predetermined time point is obtained by setting the upper side of the second straight line 6 to the Y axis and the lower side to the −Y axis from this point. Arithmetic circuit 15 into which data X and data Y are input
is the focal length Fy of the first lens 7 stored in advance in the data X and data Y1 memory obtained by detection.
, the focal length of the second lens 8 FOl5 the distance between the first lens 7 and the sensor 1 Byl the second lens 8 and the sensor 2
The distance between Bx, . Origin P of Xy coordinates. Distance Y from to sensor 1. , and the distance X from the origin PO to the sensor 2. The following calculations are performed based on . However, α=
Let XO-(Fx+BO) and β=YO-(Fy+By). Coordinate data X, y indicating the position of the ball at the XyL+mark determined by this arithmetic circuit 15 is sent to a course determining circuit 16 at the next stage.

Since data indicating the strike course, that is, the predetermined plane 4 is stored in advance in the memory of the course determination circuit 15, the data indicating the strike course is compared with the detected coordinate data x and y, and the detected data X, It is determined whether the coordinate point position determined by y, that is, the ball position is within the predetermined plane 4.

An output device 17 connected to the output of the course determination circuit 16 notifies the determination result by means of a light emitting element and a buzzer, and records the determination result in a data recorder as necessary.

Note that the arithmetic expressions (1) and (2) in the arithmetic circuit 15 are derived as follows. First, the equations representing the imaging point positions X and Y obtained through the first and second lenses 7 and 8 are as follows.

However, from L=Fx+Bx (4) formula, y=ーゝ■immun...
・(5) From equation (3), x=-'
Iy-X ...(B)゛(6) formula (
3) By substituting the expression, the following expression can be obtained.

By substituting equation (5) into equation (6), the following equation is obtained. Therefore, equation (8), which is the same as equation (1), is obtained, and equation (7), which is the same as equation (2), is obtained. As is clear from the above, in this device, a strike ball can be determined simply by arranging a pair of one-dimensional image sensors 1 and 2, which are significantly smaller than the predetermined plane 4, along the path of the ball. become.

Therefore, the device can be constructed inexpensively and compactly.
Next, FIG. 6 showing another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

However, parts common to those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals and their explanations will be omitted. In this example, the first and second
One-dimensional image sensors 1 and 2 are arranged substantially on the same plane as the base board 3.

Then, the direction in which the photosensitive parts of one sensor 1 are arranged coincides with the direction perpendicular to the straight line represented by y=-x, and y=x
The sensors 1 and 2 are arranged so that the direction in which the photosensitive parts of the other sensor 2 are arranged coincides with the direction perpendicular to the straight line represented by
is located. The third sensor for the pair of sensors 1 and 2
A signal processing circuit similar to the one shown in the figure is connected, but sensor 1,
Since the arrangement of 2 has been changed, the arithmetic expression in the arithmetic circuit 15 is naturally modified to correspond to that shown in FIG. If a pair of sensors 1 and 2 are arranged as shown in Figure 7, sensors 1 and 2
It becomes easier to fix the device, and the presence of the device can be reduced.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be further modified. For example, the base board 3 is formed relatively thick as shown in FIG. 7, and blocks 21 and 22 containing lenses and sensors as shown in FIG.
3 and 24. If you do this,
Even less sense of presence. Also, instead of the CCD image sensor, a plurality of photodiodes Dl shown in FIG.
, D2, Dn, and FETs connected in series to these, respectively.
MOS transistors Ql, Q2, . βK and MOS transistor Q
Even if a solid-state image sensor is used, which consists of a power supply E that applies a voltage to a series circuit of 1 to Qn and photodiodes D1 to Dn via a load resistor RL, and an output terminal 0UT provided via a capacitor C. good. Note that the photodiodes D1 to Dn are linearly arranged, for example, along the first straight line 5 or 6 in FIG. Of course, the present invention can also be applied to a case where the course that the ball passes is divided into a plurality of regions and it is detected which of the divided regions the ball has passed through.

It is also of course possible to arrange third and fourth one-dimensional image sensors perpendicular to the first and second one-dimensional image sensors 1 and 2 to determine the passing state of the ball in the Z direction. It is. In this way, it becomes possible to detect the passage of the ball through all strike zones. In this case, since Xyz three-dimensional detection is performed, it is also possible to detect curves, drops, etc.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the sensor portion of a baseball ball movement state detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the sensor portion of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a front view of the ball movement state detection device. A block diagram showing the whole, Fig. 4 is a principle diagram of a CCD one-dimensional image sensor, Fig. 5 is a pair of sensors 1,
2 is a waveform diagram showing the output from 2. FIG. FIG. 6 is a front view showing the principle of a sensor portion in another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a modification of the sensor arrangement. FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram showing a modification of the one-dimensional image sensor. In addition, in the symbols used in the drawings, 1 is a first one-dimensional image sensor, 2 is a second one-dimensional image sensor, 4 is a predetermined plane,
5 is the first straight line, 6 is the second straight line, 7 is the first lens,
8 is a second lens, 10 is a clock signal generator, 13 is a first imaging point position signal forming circuit, 14 is a second imaging point position signal forming circuit, 15 is an arithmetic circuit, and 16 is a course determination circuit. The circuit 17 is an output device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Fixedly arranged on an extension plane of a predetermined plane that can be indicated by xy coordinates, and arranged so that the one-dimensional arrangement direction of the photosensitive portion coincides with a first straight line on the extension plane. and the length of the photosensitive portion in the one-dimensional arrangement direction is x of the predetermined plane.
a first one-dimensional image sensor formed to have a length smaller than the length in the axial direction and the length in the y-axis direction; , and the length of the photosensitive portion in the one-dimensional arrangement direction is equal to the length of the predetermined plane in the x-axis direction and the length in the y-axis direction. The second one is formed to be smaller than the second one.
a one-dimensional image sensor; a first lens shaped and arranged so as to be able to obtain an image of the ball on the first one-dimensional image sensor at least at all positions of the predetermined plane; , a second lens formed and arranged to be able to obtain an image of the ball at all positions on the second one-dimensional image sensor at least in the predetermined plane; and a clock signal generator for synchronously driving the original image sensor and the second one-dimensional image sensor; and a clock signal generator for driving the original image sensor and the second one-dimensional image sensor in synchronization; a first imaging point position signal forming circuit that forms a signal indicating the imaging point position; and a first imaging point position signal forming circuit that determines the imaging point position on the second one-dimensional image sensor based on the output of the second one-dimensional image sensor. a second imaging point position signal forming circuit that forms a signal indicating the xy
an arithmetic circuit for determining the xy coordinate position of a ball passing across a plane; a course determining circuit for determining whether the xy coordinate position of the ball is within the predetermined plane; and displaying the output of the course determining circuit. or an output device for recording;
A ball movement state detection device comprising at least the following. 2. The ball movement state detection device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second one-dimensional image sensors is placed at or near a home plate for baseball.